Public safety in earthquake strengthening laws

Media Release

3 September 2015 Property Council is a strong proponent of public safety in earthquake strengthening laws

Property Council supports the Government’s announcement on earthquake strengthening buildings with unreinforced masonry.

The proposal suggests updating the Building Act to speed up the assessment and upgrade of buildings with dangerous parapets, facades and unreinforced masonry.

Property Council has always reinforced the importance of safety first, with a view that the fatalities of Canterbury's devastating earthquakes should never happen again.

However, it is important that while safety is the first consideration, a balance must be struck between public safety, the overall public good and economic impact of seismic strengthening.

Property Council chief executive Connal Townsend says the only concern is around the unintended consequences of seismic strengthening laws.

“For struggling regions or smaller communities, earthquake strengthening may lead to severe economic decline and flight of capital to larger cities.

“Some building owners simply cannot afford crippling strengthening costs which leaves them no choice but to close their doors. The flow on effects of this are loss of premises and business altogether.”

Property Council calls on the Government to establish a suite of tools to assist building owners with choices and options for strengthening, such as:

• being able to deduct maintenance expenditure for tax purposes

• owners being able to depreciate their buildings over 50 years

• stopping the perverse outcome where remedial work will not quality as tax deductible while a collapsed or irreparably damaged building will

“Public safety is and should always be the number one priority, which has been demonstrated here by the Government.

“But following on from that, we must ensure that businesses and building owners are not shouldering the hefty burden of earthquake strengthening costs alone, to the detriment of entire communities.”

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